Hunter region records 55 new cases and the deaths of two more people with COVID

A total of 863 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in NSW the 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday, with 1082 being cared for in hospital, and 212 in intensive care.

There were 15 deaths, including a man in his 50s from Newcastle who died at the Calvary Mater Hospital, and a man in his 40s from Lake Macquarie who died at home. The Lake Macquarie man was unvaccinated and the Newcastle man had received his first dose of vaccine. The Hunter region recorded 55 new cases, taking the total number of cases recorded since August 5 to 837.

The new Hunter cases were recorded across six local government areas, with 18 in Newcastle, 12 in Lake Macquarie, 11 in Cessnock, nine in Maitland, three in Port Stephens and one in Singleton. Of those cases, 34 were infectious while in the community, 28 are linked to known cases, and 27 are under investigation. There were 23 new cases on the Central Coast.

NSW Premier Galdys Berejiklian said that there was a chance that schools may re-open ahead of the current schedule which sees schools going back to face-to-face teaching as of October 25, with that date being reviewed on a daily basis.

"We have been looking at schools and opening dates," she said. "We have been reviewing every day the potential for opening schools earlier. Parents should assume it is the 25th of October and if there is better news than that we will convey that. We are carefully examining options of opening schools sooner if we can."

She also announced that aged care visits will be allowed when the state reaches the 70 per cent double vaccinated target on October 11.

"For those of you who haven't been able to see a loved one for around three months - two at a time, two per day are able to see a loved one in an aged care facility," she said.

That would be possible only for those aged 12 and above who were fully vaccinated.

Ms Berejiklian also attempted to reassure businesses that opening up would not be burdensome for them, with the onus on individuals to prove they were vaccinated.

"We expect everybody to do the right thing and in the main NSW has been outstanding at that it's only a handful of people who choose to disregard the rules," she said.

"We put out our three stage roadmap to give everybody certainty and also to assure you that conditions will be pretty much what they were pre-COVID. Nothing changes except there will be an extra onus on individuals to prove that they have been vaccinated .. and businesses will be expected to check on that as they are coming in.

"Certainly having an outbreak on your premises is not good for business."

Health Minister Brad Hazzard said it was becoming increasingly important for people in the regions to get tested if they have any symptoms. He singled out a number of areas visited by a Queensland man in his 40s who was working as a delivery truck driver when he tested positive in Tweed Heads.

"He has been out and about in quite a few locations," Mr Hazzard said, including: Tweeds Heads, Kempsey, Byron Bay, Port Macquarie, Taree, Newcastle, Erina, and Sydney, across numerous suburbs on the Northern Beaches.

"People in our regional areas must understand the importance of getting tested and getting vaccinated."

Mr Hazzard also warned people to steer clear of social media, with "an awful lot of strange people delivering some very strange messaging", he said.

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said her team was still working out the details of how contract tracing would work once the number of cases started to rise again as the state opened up. Health authorities would be factoring in whether or not a person who was infectious was wearing a mask, and a matrix was being developed for businesses to assist them navigate those changes, she said.

"As case numbers rise, to some extent the onus will be a little bit more about personal responsibility," Dr Chant said. "You need to protect yourself by getting vaccinated ... you need to take into account that you may be exposed ... and take into account your own medical profile. You need to take your own decision about the risk that is afforded."

Hunter New England Local Health District public health controller, Dr David Durrheim, said the two deaths recorded in the region highlighted just how serious the disease was.

"Just over the past two weeks we have seen an abundance of cases in people under the age of 50 and particularly under the age of 40," he said.

"We've also seen cases in young children and in teens, groups that are now eligible for getting vaccinated and we encourage everybody to get vaccinated. We know that the supplies of vaccine are becoming much more abundant which is wonderful and this really is our opportunity to get protected against COVID in the Hunter New England region,"

Of the 15 deaths recorded, there were eight men and seven women. Two people were in their 40s, two were in their 50s, four people were in their 60s, three people were in their 70s, one in their 80s, and three people were in their 90s.

One person had received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, five people had received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and nine people were not vaccinated.

Five people were from south western Sydney, three people were from western Sydney, one person was from Sydney's inner west, one person was from south eastern Sydney, one person was from Sydney's eastern suburbs, one person was from Newcastle, one person was from Lake Macquarie, one person was from Dubbo, and one person was from Bateman's Bay.

Of the 863 locally acquired cases:

There were sewage detections in samples from Dareton in the far west, South Grafton in the northern rivers region, Jindabyne in the south east and Moruya on the far south coast.

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